South Carolina Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell has been elected the new president of the College of Charleston.

College spokesman Mike Robertson said the lieutenant governor was elected after the board met in closed session for about two hours late Saturday afternoon.

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Civil rights leaders and some students on campus had opposed McConnell, a Civil War re-enactor, for the job of president. McConnell is a graduate of the college and a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

The lieutenant governor, who passed up seeking re-election to seek the college job, has said he has worked to increase diversity among the state's judges and get lottery money for black colleges.

The other two finalists were Jody Encarnation and University of West Florida Provost Martha Saunders.